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Monday, 26 August 2013

So often am I used to throwing on an outfit and rushing out of the house to get my different jobs sorted, that I always forget to snap a quick picture of my outfit! Wearing vintage day to day can seem daunting to those who want to, but I intend to get snap happy with some of my outfits to show just how easy it is! A few staple pieces, such as a great skirt or Freddies, means that suddenly an old, discarded top can have a new lease of life!

Wednesday, 21 August 2013

I have a confession. Yes I love my 1940s and 1950s, but deep down I harbour a craving to be a Sixties gal. The decade stood for change, monochrome and moving on. If my hips, legs and boobs would allow it, I would totally be a mod!

As the Bank Holiday weekend approaches, Brighton Rumble arrives in town and we celebrate the mod culture that made Brighton what it is today. Before it all gets going, I thought I would share some of the upcoming events with you!

Everything kicks off on Friday evening, with Komedia hosting the first of three Mod nights...

Head into the North Laines on Saturday and Sunday for Brighton Rumble on the Beach at the Prince Albert...

Saturday, 17 August 2013

Ever since I used curling tongs to create a lovely Pageboy
hairstyle, I have been determined to teach myself how to do the same style but
by setting, a much more hair friendly method. Like all vintage setting styles,
practise makes perfect but I have found this quite an easy one to do as there
are only six sections to set. I use rollers to set my hair, rather than pin
curls as I must admit that I still have to master that technique! Rollers give
a great heat free styling option that works every time once you know where to
put the rollers to work for you.

I must also add that when I compare pictures of my Pageboy
done by a set and curling tongs, the set picture looks much more authentic!

To begin the set, separate the hair into six sections. This
can depend on how thick the hair is, but I do have very thick hair and this method
works fine.

Part your hair as you would normally. I always begin with
the smaller side which my fringe isn’t on as there is normally a little bit
less hair.

Section One: Hair from just in front of the crown parted
diagonally to the point at the tip of the ear.

Section Two:I
imagine a vertical line down from the point near the crown that I began section
one from, to the hairline at the base of the neck.

Section Three:A semi
circle of hair around the crown that will mainly be backcombed

Section Four:A
rectangle underneath the hair in section three.

Section Five:Take
the hair out that will be in your fringe and part in a similar way to Section
One.

Section Six: This should be the remaining hair just behind
the ear on the fringe side.

I use rollers that I recently bought from Boots for around
£2 (these are them!). I add a large foam roller for the section at the
crown as this gives a looser set to get the dramatic U shape of a Pageboy set. Don’t
forget a spray or two (or three!) of setting lotion before putting the rollers
in!

Now comes for the scary bit, adding the rollers. My top tip
here is to really think about the end result when adding the rollers. Think of
the classic U Shape of the pageboy and roll the hair to recreate this. To put
the rollers in Sections One and Two, I roll the hair upwards with the plastic
bit of the roller at the bottom.I like
to end up with the rollers fastened in place vertically to almost create a
ringlet once taken out later. I use the same technique for Sections Five and
Six except I find it easier to have the plastic securing bit of the roller at
the top, because I am right handed it helps me to secure the roller in really
tightly. For Section Four, I do sometimes add two rollers, to continue the U
shape well for both sides of the head, however it does work fine with one. Put
the roller in, rolling it up underneath. I sometimes slightly twist the roller
so that the hair is slightly more set to the side which has least hair. If I do
this, I then add the roller for Section Three slightly twisted in the opposite
direction to that of Section Four. I hope this makes sense! My thinking is that
the U shape will be a continuation along the hairline, rather than the hair
parting down the back and falling to each side.

Add a quick blast of hairspray and a headscarf and get some
beauty sleep!

The beauty of this set is that it is relatively quick and
easy to style in the morning as the curls are quite large and loose. Remove all
rollers very carefully and I generally encourage the hair back into ringlets
once the rollers are out. You should look very old fashioned with a head of
ringlets! I then take a large round bristle brush and gently brush underneath the
hair to loosen the set. I use my other hand (that isn’t holding the brush) to
smooth and shape the hair up and under into the pageboy style. If you get any fluff, don’t
worry, just keep brushing out and smoothing around and underneath and you will
be perfectly pageboyed! A little backcombing to Section Three and sorting the
fringe, however you would like seals the deal and you are ready to go!
I hope you find this useful, and would love to hear how you get on!

Sunday, 11 August 2013

Last weekend, the whole of Brighton turned into party
central as it was the turn of Brighton Pride! I went out with the lovely
Danielle of Daniella Christina fame, and we met up with fellow blogger
Hayley of Vintage Vessel at The Black Dove at the top of St James Street where you can
regularly find Hayley DJing every Saturday night. If you ever go here, I
recommend you check out the extremely decadent and lavish downstairs, we
certainly made the most of our surroundings with an impromptu few photos!

We decided to dress up in our vintage finery and celebrate
in our style, vintage glam! I turned to my trusty wardrobe staples, a Collectif
Dress and Vivienne Westwood Melissa shoes. It had been a hot day so I decided
against the seamed stockings; however I was regretting my choice a few hours
later as my feet were killing! Seamed stockings always save the day in the old
Viv’s!

I embraced my inner Carmen Miranda/Betty Grable with my
hair, creating a range of victory rolls on top of my head for an updated poodle
style. This not only covered my outrageous roots but was a really easy style
with the help of my latest purchase, 1940's Hairstyles. I took on a
slight bit of the rainbow theme with an assortment of flowers pinned in my
hair. I bought these one early morning at Brighton Marina Boot Sale where there
was a stall selling a range of beautiful haberdashery. These were cards of 12
flowers for a pound each, so I snapped up two cards of Pink and Yellow flowers.
They come with flexible metal legs which slide easily into your hair then can
be securely attached with a Kirby grip or two. It was a great style for a warm
evening as it was lovely to have all my hair out of the way for a change;
normally I am worrying about my set dropping! I have also been wearing this non stop in the warm, sunny days that we have been having.

There is another great look in my new book, which
incorporates a French twist with flowers hiding the join. I think I shall be
trying that one out next!